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Week Mon 9/1- Sun 15/1
Vilcabamba
We spent a lovely few days in Vilcabamba (at 1500m), a very chilled out village in the south of Ecuador, situated in the "valley of longevity" as people ling long lives there. It is surrounded by beautiful countryside and there are walking possibilities and horse riding trips in offer. We ended up not doing much whilst in Vilcabamba as Mum wasn't well- luckily it was an ideal place to relax in. We enjoyed the weather there as the temperatures were warmer, although on 2 of the days there was heavy rain in the afternoon.We also enjoyed the pretty garden at our hotel and our terrace and hammock outside our room. Breakfasts were good (included in the price making it very good value at $14 each). One day we did go for a walk around the outside of the village which allowed us to enjoy some of the pretty views. Vilcabamba is the kind of place you could stay for a while and many people do; it has quite a lot of expats living there. If I'd had no time restrictions I think I would have ended up staying there for at least a week! As it was though in order to make the most of my Mum's trip we had to move on on Thursday. Can't say I was looking forward to the next few days as it was going to involve quite a lot of time on buses to start to head north again!
Canar/Ingapirca
Thursday 12th we travelled first to Loja (90 mins) and went into the town centre to go to a bank to pay for our jungle trip. Once that was done it was back to the bus terminal for the 5 hour bus ride to Cuenca. Luckily on arrival there we managed to get straight on a bus to our next destination- Canar which was good timing. We arrived there at a hotel at about 7, went for food then bed- it was freezing though as Canar is at 3100m and therefore much colder than where we had been and probably the coldest place so far for Mum. Plus our room was under the roof which seemed to be letting in even more cold! Friday morning we got a bus to the ruins of Ingapirca about 45 minutes away. I had visited them on my last trip but it was a good chance for Mum to see some Inca ruins. We decided to just look around by ourselves to beat a group of school children who were just about to go into the ruins! Information is provided on your way round but a guide would have been good for more detailed info. We had another long- 7 hour- bus journey ahead but managed to get on a bus by 1pm and arrived in Latacunga at about 8.
Latacunga/Quilotoa
My third trip to Latacunga- our purpose being visiting Quilotoa lake which we did on the Saturday (14th). We got a bus at 9.15, which took us to Zumbahua. Once there we got a pick up truck to the lake. Should have cost $5 for us both apparently but got charged $10, I thought this was ok as last time I had paid $5 so thought that was right. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great; it was cold, cloudy and drizzly. The lake is still an impressive sight though and we had a little wander along part of the crater edge. Due to the weather we considered getting the 1pm bus back but the decision was made for us when it didn't stop to pick up any passengers! Had a rather pricey lunch in the community run restaurant and tried to warm up, but it was cold in there too! We ended up getting a pick up back to Zumbahua, this time for just $5. Then we got offered a ride in a pick up back to Latacunga- a good choice from the point of view that Mum got to experience riding in the back of a truck, sat on a wooden bench, which is a common way to get around here and we had good views of the scenery. However it was a bit cold and uncomfortable for a journey lasting nearly 2 hours! (Luckily it didn't rain much though!). The bus passed us, which was quite funny, as we'd have got back quicker on that! We overtook and then were passed several times by another bus which rather comically had a sheep standing strapped to the roof, along with lots of bottles of coca cola! The pick up didn't actually take us all the way back, instead dropped us at Pujilli and tried to make me pay the full price! Lol Anyway we got a bus back to Latacunga and got back to the hostel at about 6. We bought some food and cooked dinner, which was nice after having had lots of meals out. Sunday morning we didn't do much then my friend Jacob took us to the guinea pig restaurant- I once again had no intention of eating any but Mum did try a little. After we went for a wander in the market and went back to the hostel for a quiet afternoon, ready for the next day's journey to get to the starting point for our jungle trip…..
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